Writing for Vaudeville eBook

The line, “Who wants to flirt with a handkerchief?
I want to flirt with a woman,” helps in the
blending of the point division we have just examined.

The straight-man’s line following the big laugh
line in that point division, “No, you take out
your handkerchief,” (biz. [1]) is another example
of the blend-line. And it is the very first
introduction of the peculiar style of business that
makes of “The Art of Flirtation” so funny
an act.

[1] Biz. is often used in vaudeville material
for bus., the correct contraction of business.

3. The Use of Business

Let us continue in the examination of this example.

COMEDIAN

Suppose you ain’t got a handkerchief?

STRAIGHT

Every flirter must have a handkerchief.
It says it in the book.
Now you shake the handkerchief three times
like this. (Biz) Do
you know what that means?

COMEDIAN

(Biz. of shaking head.)

STRAIGHT

That means you want her to give you—­

COMEDIAN

Ten cents.

The reason why these two words come with such humorous
effect, lies in two causes. First, “ten
cents” has been used before with good laugh
results—­as a “gag line,” you
recall—­and this is the comedian’s
magical “third time” use of it. It
is a good example of the “three-sequence mystery”
which Weber and Fields mentioned, and which has been
used to advantage on the stage for many, many years.

Second, the comedian had refused to answer the straight-man’s
question. He simply stood there and shook his
head. It was the very simple business of shaking
his head that made his interruption come as a surprise
and gave perfect setting for the “gag-line.”

Read the speeches that follow and you will see how
business is used. Note particularly how the
business makes this point stand out as a great big
laugh:

This line reads even funnier than many laughs in the
act that are bigger, but its business cannot be explained
in words. It seems funnier to you because you
can picture it. You actually see it, precisely
as it is done.

Then the next line blends it into the next point,
which is clearly introduced with a grin—­is
developed into a laugh, a bigger laugh by effective
business, and then into a roar.

Point after point follows—­each point topping
the preceding point—­until the end of the
two-act is reached in the biggest laugh of all.